Somalia: Information on the Moorshe subclan of the Reer Hamar, on whether there is any safe area for them, on whether there are internal flight alternatives (IFA) for them, and on whether there is any protection available to them from a larger clan
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1995 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SOM19731.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Somalia: Information on the Moorshe subclan of the Reer Hamar, on whether there is any safe area for them, on whether there are internal flight alternatives (IFA) for them, and on whether there is any protection available to them from a larger clan, 1 February 1995, SOM19731.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab345c.html [accessed 17 September 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
For general information on the Reer Hamar, of which the Moorshe is a subclan, please refer to Responses to Information Requests SOM18479.E of 26 September 1994, SOM17637.E of 20 June 1994, SOM16536.E of 11 February 1994 and SOM16196.E of 7 January 1994, which are available at Regional Documentation Centres.
In a telephone interview on 8 February 1995, a representative of the Somali Immigrant Organization in North York stated that he did not have details on the Moorshe subclan of the Reer Hamar. However, the representative added that the Reer Hamar are a minority group located primarily around Mogadishu and other Somali coastal cities.
Regarding the availability of internal flight alternatives (IFAs) for the Reer Hamar, the representative described the Reer Hamar as persons without distinctive home regions in the Somali interior. As a result, they have no safe areas to turn to but their urban neighbourhoods. According to the representative, even these neighbourhoods cannot be regarded as safe areas for the Reer Hamar during times of local or national crisis, given the Reer Hamar status as a politically insignificant minority group in Somalia.
In a 6 February 1995 telephone interview with a professor and Somali specialist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, the professor stated that the Reer Hamar and its subclans, including the Moorshe, have historically been at risk from more powerful clans, given the general perception among their neighbours that they are a wealthy but weak group. The Reer Hamar have also been easy victims, because they have never had powerful allies to protect them from other groups (ibid.). This information provided by the University of Minnesota professor on the vulnerability of the Reer Hamar and its subclans was corroborated in telephone interviews on 7 February 1995 by a history professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a Somali community worker in Toronto.
According to the University of Minnesota professor, the Reer Hamar and its subclans, including the Moorshe, became easy targets for attack between 1990 and 1991 because of the public perception of their wealth as a group (6 Feb. 1995). The history professor from the University of Pennsylvania indicated that there was a flight of some individual Reer Hamar from Somalia following the overthrow of the Siad Barre government, and the subsequent ransacking of their communities by rampaging soldiers and clan militias (7 Feb. 1995).
According to the Somali community worker in Toronto, because of the small population of the Reer Hamar and their subclans, the group was never perceived as a threat by the government (7 Feb. 1995). Also, due to their perceived wealth, the Reer Hamar and their sub groups have been attacked by more powerful clan militias (ibid.). The same source said that the militias attacked Reer Hamar and their sub groups with impunity because these militias were aware that there would never be retaliation by any allies of the Reer Hamar.
For general information on the availability of IFA in Somalia, please refer to Response to Information Request SOM19255.E of 6 February 1995, which is currently available at Regional Documentation Centres.
This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Somali community worker, Toronto. 7 February 1995. Telephone interview.
Somali Immigrant Organization, North York. 8 February 1995. Telephone interview with representative.
University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. 6 February 1995. Telephone interview with professor.
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia. 7 February 1995. Telephone interview with history professor.